Thank You, New Life Bible Fellowship
Today, my book Don’t Just Send a Resume is available for order. It’s dedicated to New Life Bible Fellowship.
While driving to the Mexican restaurant Qdoba, I got my first phone call from Pastor Greg. I pulled over to take the call. He and I didn’t talk but a few minutes. I remember telling him that I wanted to make sure I answered to say hello, but also that I couldn’t talk because I was on a date with my wife. Brooke and I had just dropped off our three children at Megan and Allen’s house for babysitting.
That phone call was exactly 8 years ago, the Valentine’s Day of 2011, which simultaneously feels like yesterday but also like another lifetime ago.
At the time, we lived in St. Louis. But Pastor Greg was calling from Tucson, where a growing church called New Life Bible Fellowship was looking to hire a new pastor. And I was looking to be hired as a pastor, my first full-time job in ministry.
To be candid, the search process wasn’t going well for me. My lack of experience was part of the problem. Another factor was the recession; churches simply weren’t hiring. I’ve since learned many pastors had similar experiences during these years. If a church had three pastors and one left, they were learning to get by with two. And if a church was growing and needed to add staff, most didn’t.
My first day of work at New Life Bible Fellowship in Tucson, AZ on June 1, 2011.
At some point in this search process, I remember saying to my wife, “You know that list we made, the one with our dream job in the dream city? I’m throwing it in the trash. I just need to find a job—forget the right job.” That’s how bad it was.
But then Greg called, and a flicker of hope was kindled. It seemed like a long shot, though. I’d never been to the Southwest, let alone Tucson. And when I had first applied for the job, sending my cover letter and resume and references and recommendation letters, I called New Life to see how the process was going and to let them know I was interested. The kind woman who answered the phone—who I now know as the lovely Cindy Carpenter—said, “It’s so nice of you to call. The search is going great.” When I asked how many people had applied, Cindy replied, “Let me look . . . Oh, I think it’s up to three hundred.” See what I mean by a long shot.
Later in the interviewing process, Greg and John flew out to visit our home. When we gave them a tour of our house, I showed them my laundry room, which is a bizarre thing to do, but for some reason I did. We also took a walk around the block. John, the worship pastor of the church, was kind enough to give my young children piggyback rides as we walked through my neighborhood.
I know, I know, I know. I’m rambling. I’ll get to the point. The point is I’m really thankful to New Life Bible Fellowship. And I’m really thankful to God. My first job as a pastor didn’t come without a few bumps, even a few bumps in that interviewing process. But I’m glad for it—all the good and all the hard.
Today, 8 years after my first phone call with Pastor Greg, my book to help pastors in the job-search process comes out. On the dedication page I wrote:
To New Life Bible Fellowship
for taking a risk on a rookie pastor
whose calling was clear but gifts were raw
If you want to buy the book, that’s great I guess. But today I’m not so worried about getting more sales. I’m more concerned about saying “thank you” to everyone in Tucson who we met during the interview process and everyone who loved us while I pastored at New Life. There were many of you, far too many to name. (But if I were to mention just a few names, I’d be sure to say the Lavines, Grandma Sandy, all the Tramels, and Jordan Carpenter; they loved us beyond what could ever be asked.)
New Life was the perfect place for me to learn and struggle and grow. It was the perfect place to develop my gifts, which admittedly were very raw. It was a perfect place to give and receive love.
So thank you, New Life Bible Fellowship.
* Church photo from New Life’s welcome video.
New and Notable: Don’t Just Send a Resume
Author and blogger Tim Challies shares about my book Don’t Just Send a Resume.
Tim Challies talking about new releases in February 2019.
Tim Challies is a popular Christian author, blogger, and co-founder of the publishing company Cruciform Press. Within these roles, one thing he’s especially known for is reviewing books. And because of this, authors and publishers send him hundreds and hundreds of books each year. I’ve heard Challies mention that when he goes to the post office to empty his PO Box, the postal workers celebrate because they get back their office. That’s a lot of books!
Each month, he takes a small handful of the books published in a given month, and he creates a video talking about a few he considers noteworthy. This month Challies was kind enough to mention my book Don’t Just Send a Resume: How to Find the Right Job in a Local Church, which helps pastors in the job-search process.
I’m biased, of course, but I do think the book is noteworthy, if only for the fact that in the last dozen years no book has been written to help pastors in the job-search process. There are plenty of books written to help churches find a pastor but none for pastors to find the right church. Until now.
If you’re skipping ahead, he talks about my book at the end of the video, which begins around the 4:48 mark. Challies says,
Last, but not least, Don’t Send Out a Resume by Benjamin . . . I’m going to go with . . . Vrbicek. (I’m not totally sure of the pronunciation there.) This is a book about being called from one church to another to fulfill a ministry position. And it’s meant to help make that transition, help decide whether you should accept such a position, and help understand how you would think that through well, what you should look for.
And so he’s written the bulk of the book. He’s also had contributions from a host of people you may know, J.A. Medders, Dave Mathis, Jared Wilson, Chris Brauns, and so on. Sam Rainer and others.
So, this is a book, if you’re into ministry, you’re thinking about getting into ministry or maybe you’re thinking about changing up the church or ministry you work with. I think you’ll find this a helpful guide.
Tim, thank you for sharing about Don’t Just Send a Resume. And thank you for pronouncing my name correctly, which is not easy to do!
Sunny Side Up by Dan DeWitt (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
A helpful book for new believers to understand the gospel and discipleship.
I’ll say up front that I’ve read several of Dan DeWitt’s books, and I’m a fan. Our family especially enjoyed reading his children’s novella series called The Owlings. (You can read my review here.) His latest book, Sunny Side Up: The Breakfast Conversation That Could Change Your Life, explores Peter’s famous conversation with Jesus after the resurrection. Over a simple meal of fish cooked by a fire, Peter and Jesus exchanged words with profound implications.
Yet as soon as I call the story “famous,” I should point out that it’s not famous to many people. Sure, if you’ve been around Christianity for a while, you’ve probably heard several sermons about it. Indeed, if you attended my church last year on Easter, you heard me preached from John 21. DeWitt, however, is not mainly writing to those of us already familiar with the story and its implications. DeWitt writes for those new to the faith, or perhaps those still wrestling with what it might mean to follow Christ in the first place.
But that’s not to say there’s nothing in the book for a mature believer. There is. DeWitt caused me to think more deeply about what “these” refers to in Jesus’s question, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15). Additionally, I was challenged by the connection DeWitt repeatedly makes between what it means to follow Jesus at the level of the heart (“Peter, do you love me?”) and the trajectory of ministry that should flow out of that relationship (“Then feed my lambs, Peter”).
I also appreciated how DeWitt underscores the critical connection between love for Jesus and love for the local church. Jesus loves a church as a groom loves his bride. And it’s fitting that the bride should love the groom in return. And as DeWitt recalls a friend saying to him, “You can’t love the church, without loving a church” (p. 57).
If I were to venture one criticism, I might wonder if the breakfast theme throughout the book is played up a bit too much. But regardless, Sunny Side Up is the type of book I’d love to give away in our church welcome bags. It’s warm and accessible. It explains the gospel and encourages both mature Christians and those just starting out that Jesus really does change lives.
* Photo by John Salzarulo on Unsplash
Is It Easy for You to Say “Wait”? MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail
A few reflections on Martin Luther King’s famous letter.
If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he’d have just celebrated his ninetieth birthday. But of course he’s not alive. What he lived for got him killed.
I spent some time reflecting on this yesterday, the day we as a nation set apart to remember his legacy and the causes he advanced and those that still linger. I also took some time in the morning to read Letter from a Birmingham Jail, though near the end of the letter King wryly notes his “letter” is closer to a book than a letter because of its length. The title communicates some of the setting of the letter, but it’s also important to know that the letter is a response to several white clergymen, that is, men who, like me, work in full-time ministry.
While in jail, someone gave King the criticism of the clergy, which had been published in a newspaper. King notes in the letter that he seldom took time to respond to criticism because, he writes, “If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work.”
But because of the nature of the criticism and who wrote it, and perhaps because of the time afforded to him in jail, King responded. And what a response it was. Many thoughts from the letter pricked my conscience, but below was one of the more arresting paragraphs. In poignant language, King is responding to the criticism that his actions are not “well-timed” and that, if he could only “wait,” he might have a more sympathetic audience. Yet saying “wait,” as King notes, is pretty easily done by those who “have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.”
I pray that if you have not suffered the disease of segregation—as I certainly have not—King’s words will sober you, as they did to me. I also have a six-year-old daughter, and I can’t imagine telling her she’s not allowed at Hershey Park, the amusement park near my house, because of her skin color.
We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother and are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tip-toe stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. (Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)
* Photo by Brian Kraus on Unsplash
Porn: The Killer of Missions
I was recently interviewed about the effects of pornography on missions and how the gospel helps us change.
I’d love to share with you an interview I recently did on a podcast about the topic of pornography and how to struggle against it. The Missions Podcast is hosted by Scott Dunford and Alex Kocman, who both work for ABWE, an international missions organization. Scott has also been one of the pastor-elders at our church for the last few years and has become a good friend.
You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Or you can simply listen below.
One thing to note: A few times in the interview we reference my new book about this topic. Well, it’s so “new” that it’s not even out yet! Bummer. Please be patient and stay tuned. It’s in the publication process now!
Here’s what Alex wrote for an intro to our conversation:
In our culture, sexual temptation is hitting the church like a tidal wave, and those serving overseas as missionaries are far from immune. Porn is a fatal undercurrent that Satan uses to eliminate gospel workers sniper-style and cripple missions efforts, and overseas workers separated from accountability and friends are particularly vulnerable.
What factors drive a person in full-time ministry to pornography for comfort, control, or stress relief—and what gospel hope is there for someone struggling? This week we sat down in-studio with Benjamin Vrbicek, teaching pastor at Community Evangelical Free Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and author of the upcoming book Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart.
* Photo by Tom Ritson on Unsplash
Reading List 2018
A list of every book I read last year, and some notes on my favorites.
My first post of each new year always contains the list of books I read the previous year (2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017). I do it for personal accountability. Knowing I have to post my list helps me stay on track.
The goal in previous years had been to read 1 book per week, but this year I tried to up it to 2 per week.
I didn’t make it. I only read 87, with 17 of them being audiobooks. I was on my 2-per-week pace until the fall. Because of other projects, my time for extra reading all but disappeared.
My favorite books were The Imperfect Pastor by Zack Eswine, which was a re-read for me, and The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry, which I wrote a review of here.
One surprising change this year is that I had the privilege of reading almost 20 books before they were published, with 15 of them being books I did design work on (for example, all the “How-To” books with Sojourn Network). That was fun, and the tiny bit of extra income got reinvested right back into my own writing projects, mostly in editing and cover design.
Speaking of my own projects, when counting up the number of books, you’ll see below that I counted the reading of my own soon-to-be-published books a few times. I felt this was at least sort of legit because I probably read them 5 more times than I’m taking credit for reading them! Editing and proofreading is—apparently—demanding work!
Because of all the extra writing, design work, and helping a friend with his seminary coursework, much of my reading was dictated to me this year. I’m hoping next year I’ll have more time to explore things I’m interested in, such as the dozen Eugene Peterson books I recently bought and hope to work through slowly this spring.
Let me know in the comments what was your favorite book of the year.
* * *
Books per Year
Selected Blog Posts on the Topic of Pornography (55,000 Words), Part 1 by Various (200 pages)
Selected Blog Posts on the Topic of Pornography (55,000 Words), Part 2 by Various (200 pages)
White Fang by Jack London (160 pages)
Life in the Wild: Fighting for Faith in a Fallen World by Dan DeWitt (128 pages)
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (480 pages)
Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age by Jeff Goins (240 pages)
Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung (128 pages)
The Bible: Romans to Revelation, Part 6 of 6 by God (300 pages)
Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation by Donald Miller (2224 pages)
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson (448 pages)
On Pastoring: A Short Guide to Living, Leading, and Ministering as a Pastor by H. B. Charles Jr. (208 pages)
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (480 pages)
On Preaching: Personal & Pastoral Insights for the Preparation & Practice of Preaching by H. B. Charles Jr. (160 pages)
The Pastor’s Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds by Brian Croft (192 pages)
12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke (224 pages)
The Pastor’s Family: Shepherding Your Family through the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry by Brian and Cara Croft (171 pages)
Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death by Russ Ramsey (176 pages)
Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (206 pages)
Charting the Course: How-To Navigate the Legal Side of a Church Plant by Tim Beltz (112 pages)
Journals about blogging (3 issues) by ConvertKit (120 pages)
Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray (208 pages)
Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send by J.D. Greear (256 pages)
Chasing Contentment: Trusting God in a Discontented Age by Erik Raymond (176 pages)
The Bible: Genesis to Deuteronomy, Part 1 of 6 by God (300 pages)
Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind by Erwin Raphael McManus (352 pages)
Book Launch Blueprint: The Step-by-Step Guide to a Bestselling Launch by Tim Grahl (76 pages)
Ephesians For You: For reading, for feeding, for leading (God’s Word for You) by Richard Coekin (224 pages)
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, Updated and Expanded Edition by John Piper (320 pages)
Redemptive Participation: A “How-To” Guide for Pastors in Culture by Mike Cosper (104 pages)
The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry (144 pages)
Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt (224 pages)
Fierce Grace: 30 Days With King David by Stephen R. Morefield (212 pages)
Eating You Way Through Luke’s Gospel by Robert J. Karris (112 pages)
Supernatural Power for Everyday People: Experiencing God’s Extraordinary Spirit in Your Ordinary Life by Jared C. Wilson (224 pages)
The Preacher’s Catechism by Lewis Allan (224 pages)
Why Pray? by John F. DeVries (240 pages)
Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt (256 pages)
Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. by Skye Jethani (224 pages)
The Solace of Water: A Novel by Elizabeth Byler Younts (368 pages)
Family Ministry (Gospel-Centered Discipleship) by Greg Gibson and Patrick Weikle (128 pages)
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Anchor (256 pages)
Before the Lord, Before the Church: “How-To” Plan a Child Dedication by Jared Kennedy (108 pages)
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny by Robin Sharma (198 pages)
A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness by John Piper (304 pages)
The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristen Hannah (608 pages)
Healthy Plurality = Durable Church: “How-To” Build and Maintain a Healthy Plurality of Elders by Dave Harvey (108 pages)
The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? by F. F. Bruce (149 pages)
Finding a Pastor: A Handbook for Ministerial Search Committees by Joel Hathaway (128 pages)
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss (416 pages)
The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper (176 pages)
The Bible: Joshua to Esther, Part 2 of 6 by God (300 pages)
Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir... Of Sorts by Ian Morgan Cron (257 pages)
Walk with Me: Learning to Love and Follow Jesus by Jenny McGill (303 pages)
Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture by John Piper (432 pages)
John Piper: The Making of a Christian Hedonist (a PhD Dissertation) by Justin Taylor (311 pages)
Sabbaticals: “How-To” Take a Break from Ministry before Ministry Breaks You by Rusty McKie (122 pages)
Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship by John Piper (336 pages)
Don’t Just Send a Resume: How to Find the Right Job in a Local Church by Benjamin Vrbicek (204 pages)
Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart by Benjamin Vrbicek (171 pages)
Leading from Your Strengths: Building Close-Knit Ministry Teams by Eric Tooker, John Trent, Rodney Cox (112 pages)
The Lemming Dilemma: Living with Purpose, Leading with Vision by David Hutchens (68 pages)
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles (480 pages)
The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus by Zack Eswine (272 pages)
Grounded in the Faith: A Guide for New Disciples Based on the Apostles’ Creed by Todd A. Scacewater (62 pages)
Leadership through Relationship: “How-To” Develop Leaders in the Local Church by Kevin Galloway (106 pages)
Raised By Grace: A Family Discipleship Guide by Michael R. Morefield (73 pages)
The Bible: Psalms to Song of Solomon, Part 3 of 6 by God (300 pages)
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (326 pages)
Who is Jesus by Greg Gilbert (144 pages)
The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians by D. A. Carson (160 pages)
The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy by Timothy Keller (272 pages)
Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer by J. Oswald Sanders (256 pages)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (128 pages)
The Elements of Style by William Strunk (86 pages)
Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart by Benjamin Vrbicek (171 pages)
The Writer’s Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose by Helen Sword (88 pages)
The Hospitality Commands: Building Loving Christian Community: Building Bridges to Friends and Neighbors by Alexander Strauch (64 pages)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (224 pages)
Studies in Words by C.S. Lewis (352 pages)
Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons by Tim Russert (320 pages)
The Pastor and Pornography (9Marks Journal, Fall 2018) by 9Marks (88 pages)
The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry (144 pages)
The Bible: Isaiah to Malachi, Part 4 of 6 by God (300 pages)
1 Peter for You by Juan Sanchez (192 pages)
Don’t Just Send a Resume: How to Find the Right Job in a Local Church by Benjamin Vrbicek (204 pages)
Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart by Benjamin Vrbicek (171 pages)
The Bible: Matthew to Acts, Part 5 of 6 by God (300 pages)